Targhee II – The Best Women’s Hiking Boot?

Women of the world: if you’re going to do the manly thing and take a hike, then you’ve gotta make absolutely sure that you are well prepared to do so. Do not simply venture out into the world without having informed yourself of the very real risks and dangers that are out there when it comes to hiking a trail in the great outdoors. It is dangerous to go alone. You have to take a good pair of women’s hikers with you if you are to stand any chance at surviving the big scary outdoor world.

When I was young, I made the mistake of thinking that you could easily take a hike on a couple of worn down sneakers. And that must’ve been the dumbest mistake I’ve ever made in my entire life, because I suffered the consequences, and not too little. Going on a hike without the proper foot support gave me a nasty case of the plantar fasciitis, one that I’ve documented already throughout so many pages on the Boot Bomb. It’s an extremely painful condition… one that you’ll not soon forget. So be nice to yourself and just strap a good couple of hikers onto your feet if you are dead serious about your foot health.

Too many people simply aren’t serious about their foot health. They just sorta, kinda assume that their feet are going to be alright, no matter how poorly they treat them. Nothing could be further from the truth. As we age, are feet naturally flatten out a bit. All that weight that’s bearing down on those feet throughout all those decades will take its toll at one point or another. But the flatter your feet are, the less support they give you. This problem then transfers to your ankles, your knees and your lower back. This is important for normal people who don’t hike. It’s especially important for people who do hike!

So let’s have a look at what is arguably the greatest pair of hiking boots for women that the world has ever seen, shall we?

Targhee II Best Women’s Hiking Boot – Review

The Targhee IIs have a thick rubber outsole, while the shoes themselves are made of leather. Their shaft goes up 4.5″ from the arch, which makes them medium height hiking boots in most people’s views, including mine. The heel itself is around 1.5″, which is a very respectable height for a hiking boot to have. The platform itself is around 1″. So all in all, the sole is pretty thick and that helps increase its durability. It will certainly not wear out quickly on you.

This mid height hiking boot has a breathable membrane, which is waterproof. The protective toe cap is pretty big, as you can see in the picture with your own eyes. This helps in protecting your toes quite a lot. Especially if you plan on hiking a pretty rough trail, which has lots of debris on it. It helps even moreso if you’re climbing rocks, because you’ll be bumping your toes more often than you care to count while you’re at that.

It has a pull on loop at the rear, making KEEN’s Targhee IIs easy to put on and take off. This ease of use is complemented by the fact that these KEENs have a really great lacing system that works very well. You can tighten the boot around the ankle, while letting the toe box be a little loose. This is just what you need… support around the ankle, but the freedom to wiggle your toes, so that you can still use them as you naturally would when you weren’t wearing any boots to begin with (not that I recommend this, but still).

They have a removable EVA foam footbed, which you may not want to remove, since it’s dual density. Still, stock inserts usually can’t really top the quality of after market inserts, so you may want to experiment with what you think helps best in supporting your feet. Whichever you end up deciding, the torsion stability ESS shank will see to it that you stand stably nonetheless.

Online reviewers are mostly saying that these women’s hike boots don’t even need to be broken in and that they are comfortable right from the get go. Generally, women are of the opinion that they have great arch support and that they support you and your feet well across rocky terrains. They will not give you blisters on your first time wearing them for a multi day hike. Plenty of other boots do, in fact, give you blisters. The fact that these don’t is a testament to their support.

Author Biography

This page was authored by Brian Bradshaw, who represents the Boot Bomb. Brian is backed up by an expert team, made up of experienced family and friends, all of which are knowledgeable in the ways of footwear and/or hiking. His ancestors used to own a shoe store for almost a century. He has lived and breathed footwear for as long as he can remember.

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Hi, I'm Brian Bradshaw and I'm all about the hiking life. Welcome to the Boot Bomb, where I write about my favorite footwear & outdoor gear to my heart's content!

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